Weeping Willow
by Kiw3ify
Summary: Evelyn Bergan is at a crisis: juggling the effects of WWII on her family whilst being far away from them at Hogwarts. Her world was turned upside down the day she learnt that she was a witch. Hogwarts would challenge her, in terms of love, hatred, and friendship. Enjoy! :) Updated weekly.
1. Chapter 1 - Baby Steps

**Ch.1 - Baby Steps**

The cold gust of wind travelled through the streets of Oslo and carried with it the stench of despair. The barren streets were devoid of life with the occasional Nazi soldier patrolling, which further sunk the city into inhumanity. The footsteps of their boots on the gravel echoed as they walked, their straight postures resembled a machine's, and their gazes were deadly. It was dangerous to fall under the attention of these soldiers, as they only sought destruction.

Evelyn held her breath that May evening of 1940, as a soldier steadily walked by her left side, merely one meter away from her. His eyes examining the queue that had assembled to get some food rations. The soldier's eyes beastly scoured every individual there and begun to smirk at them. Evelyn shuddered as she felt his eyes pierce through her outer skin and tear into her flesh. The moment seemed to last a century. Evelyn closed her eyes and discretely crossed her fingers behind her back. She felt her fellow citizens in the crowd slowly squeeze together. Evelyn felt the warmth of the tight embrace that reminded her of Norwegian comradery. It had only been a month that the Nazis had occupied Norway, and already the conditions have worsened drastically.

Evelyn fell into pangs of nostalgia, as she could remember as if it were only yesterday, that her father would come home from his work as an entrepreneur with a large smile on his face. Then, he would hug her and swing her around lovingly. Laughter would be emitted from both their lips, as well as the lips of her mother who would be watching while she was leaning on the white doorframe of Evelyn's room. Evelyn could remember how she had many toys, like her Betsy-Wetsy dolls and her wooden rocking horse. Her favorite having been her knitted pink elephant that her grandmother had made for her when she turned 5 years old. Like a child, she carried her elephant (whom she called Pogo) under her arm wherever she went.

Now, with the war being inherent in Norwegian borders, Evelyn had been stripped of her toys, of her father, of her innocence and childhood. She had been forced to mature at a young age of 11 in order to help her mother take care of the family, which consisted of her, her mother, and the new baby Nora. A single, warm tear slid down her cheek.

Suddenly, Evelyn's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a scream. She spun around to see that the Nazi soldier had selected his prey - a frail young woman in her 20s with dark hair and pale skin. Evelyn closed her eyes in sadness as she realized that this woman was the baker that lived 3 doors down from her home. Mathilda Dahlberg was her name. She had always dreamed of setting up a bakery in America. As Evelyn opened her eyes again, the day resumed. Mathilda had been dragged off flailing, by the Nazi for unknown reasons, and people were waiting for some bread. Mathilda never returned to her bakery.

After two hours of waiting, Evelyn managed to get half a loaf of rye bread. She was now on her way home that night, walking along the grey, cobble stoned pavements of Oslo. The weak and homeless would reside on the streets and pester one for food. Evelyn often fell victim to this, but not today. Today was a day unlike the rest as when she walked home, she noticed in the skies, flashes of maginificent blue,

green, and purple. It greatly resembled the Northern Lights, but was occuring in the wrong season. Evelyn was nearing her family's white apartment; however, chose to sit outside underneath the grand willow tree that stood beside the apartment complex and admire the light display in front of her eyes. The flashes were irregular and looked like colored, fluorescent lightning. _What were they?_, she thought to herself.

"Evelyn!", she heard her mother call her from inside the apartment, "Come inside, honey. We don't want you catching a cold. You've been out all day. Are you alright?"

Evelyn entered the front door and handed over the loaf to her mother, before giving her a hug. "Yeah, I'm fine, Mom. There were millions of people at the bread line. How's Nora doing?", she replied. Then, she walked into the bedroom, which was also their living room, and saw baby Nora. She was on the wooden floor, holding both of her feet, and rocking back and forth. She smiled when she saw Evelyn. Evelyn gave her a wide grin and swept the little babe into her arms. She tickled her stomach and she laughed.

"You should see what Nora learnt today," her mother said. "Here, let me show you." She carefully, yet lovingly took Nora from Evelyn's arms and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek before setting her down on her feet beside the bed. The first time she fell on her bottom. Evelyn looked up at her mother with a confused expression. _Was that it?_, she thought. Then her mother proceeded to set her on her feet again, which was met with grunts of annoyance. The second time, Evelyn saw something incredible. Her baby sister was holding on the bed frame for balance, but was taking wobbly steps. Evelyn felt a multitude of feelings in an instant: she was ecstatic, surprised, and incredibly proud of her sister. She jumped up in jubilee and hugged her mother so tightly, whilst they cheerfully exclaimed.

It only lasted a minute before they stopped with their celebration as they heard Nora hysterically crying behind them. She had hit her head on the bed frame. Evelyn and her mother laughed at the situation, before feeding Nora and then putting her to bed in her makeshift cradle. She fell asleep rather quickly. Evelyn and her mother entered the kitchen. "That was amazing! Has she been walking for long?", asked Evelyn.

"That was her second time. She's growing up very fast. I can still remember when you took your first steps, Evelyn. It was one of the happiest days of my life," she replied.

"I can see why," Evelyn grinned. It had been a long time since something this marvelous had happened for the girl. It temporarily distracted the family from the war, but it dawned on Evelyn again when she heard the bark of a dog outside. She knew her mother did not like to talk about the war to her children, but Evelyn felt the need to talk about it with her. "Mathilda was taken away today," she said, "It was at the bread line," she saw her mother's expression sadden, "I'm sure nothing's happened to her!" She quickly added while holding her hands up. She put an arm around her mother, while they stood in silence.

"I wish things were different. For you and for Nora. Children shouldn't be raised through a war. Children shouldn't be raised without a father!" Her mother wailed. Evelyn's mother was a kind and fragile soul.

"I know, Mom. It will all turn around one day. You'll see. We need to stay strong," cooed Evelyn. She comfortingly hugged her mother. When they broke apart from their embrace, the mother brought her hand up to Evelyn's face and tucked a tuft of her long, blonde hair behind her ear.

"I'm very proud of you, Evelyn," she said, "You have gotten a little thin though. Let's get some food in you." She took the rye bread and started to cut it into slices, before lighting a candle on the table. Evelyn went to gather the strawberry jam from the pantry. And together, the mother and the daughter enjoyed a dinner together in the kitchen. It was an intimate atmosphere of comfort. The only light in the room was the sole candlelight in the center of the table that illuminated the kind faces of Evelyn and her mother. There was no sound other than the silence of the night and the sweet speech that made their conversation. Just when things seemed perfect, there came a heavy bang on their kitchen window.

Evelyn felt her heart stop, as she turned towards the window._ I hope it's not a Nazi, I hope it's not a Nazi_, she repeated to herself. She stood up from the table and put a hand on her mother's shoulder, signaling that she was the one that was going to look outside. As she passed the bedroom, the baby continued to lay sleeping in the cradle. She exited the apartment and saw something extremely peculiar lying underneath the kitchen window on the cobble stone. It was an owl. And it had an envelope in its mouth.


	2. Chapter 2 - Bye, Bye, Boaty!

**Ch. 2 - Bye, Bye, Boaty! **

Evelyn neared the unconscious animal and knelt down next to it. She carefully reached her right arm out and got hold of the delicate, white envelope. Her eyes widened as she read "To Evelyn Bergan" on the front, meaning that it was for her, _but who would send her a letter now during the war? And better yet, how'd they get an owl to do it?_ Her mind raced through the limited number of options. _1. Maybe it was a new WWII method, using birds to send mail. 2. Maybe it was from her father... _That crystal night, she was completely caught up in her thoughts, that she failed to acknowledge her surroundings.

Suddenly, she felt a short, sharp piercing sting on her left knee. "OWWWW!," she exclaimed, as she brought a hand to her knee and noticed a small dribble of blood on her hand. The owl was standing up now and facing her. She huffed. "You bit me!", she said disapprovingly to the owl, whilst pointing an accusatory finger at it. The brown-speckled owl gave a friendly hoot and continued to stand staring at Evelyn with its beautiful amber eyes. Evelyn sighed -_ this owl is not going to go anytime soon_. She decided to stand up and take a look around to see if there was anyone around

The few stone houses and apartments around her had lights in their windows, such that the streets were completely bare. There was not a soul to be seen outside at this time of night, which creeped her out a little bit. Evelyn was rather scared of the dark, so she decided to walk back inside with her letter in hand. The chestnut owl meanwhile dawdled behind her the whole way.

She entered her home and walked into the kitchen, where her mother was sitting by the kitchen table. "It was nothing important, Mom. I found an owl though. I think that's what hit the window so hard. Poor guy," she said as she motioned to the owl, which had joined the duo shortly before, "oh, and I got a weird letter. Look, it has my name on it. Do you think it's from dad?" She gave an excited smile. Her mother gave her a perplexed look before giving a small grin and saying, "Well, go on, open the letter."

Evelyn took the knife she was eating with earlier and opened the envelope.

In the letter, there stood:

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY **

** Headmaster: Armando Dippet **

**Dear Ms. Bergan, **

**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. **

**Term begins on September 1, 1940. We await your owl by no later than July 31. Due to the current situations of warfare, we require that each student be accompanied by their guardian to the Hogwarts Express. As for students overseas, additional transportation methods will be offered after your reply. **

**Yours sincerely, **

**Albus Dumbledore, **

**Deputy Headmaster. **

Evelyn stood completely frozen on the wooden floor, with her mouth open, and the letter fluttering out of her hands onto the floor. Mrs. Bergan rapidly stood up from her chair and waved a hand in front of her daughter's face. "Evelyn. What's going on? What did it say?", she asked. Evelyn continued to stare into space, so her mother reached down to get the letter, and started to read it. Once read, she sat down in silence for a minute, whilst Evelyn joined. The owl gave a squeaky hoot, which brought the two back into reality.

"Wizards are real... like the ones from my fantasy books. I always found them really cool, with like their colourful spells and how they can fly, but I don't want any warts... wait a second, I'm a witch, and I don't want any warts! But I don't have any warts... are they even real?" she mumbled, finally turning angling her face up to look into her mother's face, "Are wizards and witches real? Could I be a witch? Where's Hogwarts?"

"To be honest, I'm having a very hard time believing that wizards are real. They're just figures of imagination. Let me re-read the letter." Her mother skimmed the document over, including the envelope. She noticed the address of the school and the school's red seal. She added, "It's seems fairly legitimate. Hogwarts is an English boarding school of wizardry. You can attend the school there, since the school's have been cancelled over here due to the Nazis. Also, your English may not be the best, but what you've learnt in school should be suffice. You were always rather good at the language and the top in your class.."

"Who says I'm going?," Evelyn interjected, "Mom, you need me here to get some more money and help with Nora. I don't want to leave my family behind with those pigs around! You can count me out! I'm not going to England!" She started to argue irrationally towards her mother, despite the fact that the magical aspect interested her greatly.

"Honey, this is great for you. You should go. You can get a presumably interesting education and adventure. You could have friends and be in a safe environment, which will have an ample supply of food, lodging, and water. It's exactly what I want for my daughter. Thank you, Mr. Dumbledore. What a funny name!" Her mother gushed in happiness that her daughter would be safe from the perils of WWII.

Evelyn angrily stomped out of the kitchen into the bedroom. She threw herself onto her bed, which woke up Nora in her cradle and made her cry, and shouted, "I'M NOT GOING.. AND YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!"

* * *

On August 31st, Evelyn stood beside her mother on a small, private harbor in Oslo, waiting for a boat. It had to be very secluded as the Nazis were in control of the major ports and were not allowing any of the Allied forces' navy in. She could barely understand how Hogwarts could get one of their boats through. Yes, she was going to Hogwarts - her mother had replied to the application by feeding the brown owl and putting an acceptance letter back into its mouth. On top of that, her mother saved up extra money from cleaning the neighbors' clothes to buy her her school supplies, so now she had no choice. She's going to learn how to be a witch and won't be seeing her family until Christmas. She chuckled remembering how the wand choosing went. When Evelyn was holding the right wand, made from willow wood with a Veela hair core, things were okay. The previous 4 had utterly destroyed Ollivander's store. One had shattered all the windows, then another made all the wands fly out of their boxes, the third caused the doors to needlessly open and close, and the fourth caused Garrick's thin white hair to become an afro. Her heart was beating viciously when it happened, but Garrick explained to her that it happens to him often. Only then, was she relieved.

Evelyn could see the boat coming from the horizon, except she could tell it was no ordinary boat. It only became visible as it broke through the surface of the water, as if it was fish jumping out of the water. It became taller and taller as it settled on the surface of the ocean. A large trade ship with Hogwarts bannered sails was parked peacefully by the small harbor in front of the mother and daughter.

Evelyn bounced up and down in excitement. "AHH! This is going to be so much fun!", she exclaimed before hugging her Mom, "I'll tell you all the stories. Oh, and don't let Nora do anything silly. You know she loves to stick her nose in her food. I'll send you some 'owl' mail - I'll call it that. I'm going to miss you!". She couldn't help it, but ran aboard the ship, nearly forgetting her trunks and supplies. Suddenly, a small goblin approached her with a piece of paper on a clipboard.

"Bergan, Evelyn?", he spat at the young girl.

"Present." She replied, raising her arm in a salute, and the goblin nodded and sneered before going to the upper deck.

Evelyn entered the cabin and admired the robust wooden chairs and tables that were arranged intimately in the cabin. There was fruit and pumpkin juice on the tables. It would've been a nice place to meet some of the students, but she soon noticed that she was alone on the grand boat. She sighed, before rushing to the nearby window when she heard the boat start moving. She waved to her mother from inside the boat and blew kisses. Her mother shed a tear seeing her youngest daughter leave to Hogwarts. This was the first time she has been without her mother, and it only excited her that she was a witch. _This is going to be a whole lot of fun_, she thought.


	3. Chapter 3 - Red Express

**Ch. 3 - Red Express**

Evelyn slowly opened her eyes the next morning, waking up after spending a night on the magnificent boat that was taking her to Kings Cross Station. Lazily, she yawned and began to rub her eyes with her hands. There was a horrific taste in the back of her throat, which caused her to grimace. The night had been a long one as she experienced unexpected pangs of seasickness, which weighted like a stone in her gut. She shivered at the thought of her state yesterday. She had had one of Hogwarts house-elves tend to her, providing her with cups of water and occasionally holding back her long blonde hair as she retched over the side. Today, she felt healthier as the boat finally came to a halt at a dock along the River Thames.

Being in London, a large city of one of the powerful Allied forces (she had heard of this information from her mother and local gossip), it was unexpected the silence that was eminent in the city, which was only accompanied by a subtle tapping sound. Evelyn pushed the white blanket off of her and proceeded to get dressed into a pair of jeans, a tank top, and a deep blue sweater. She slipped on a pair of trainers and walked along the wooden floor of the boat until she was on deck. She shivered as her warm skin was met with a chilly wind filled with morning dew. She saw some house-elves to her right, handling her trunk and her owl cage. They were loading her baggage into a small black car that was parked at the dock. It was strange how the creatures were not afraid of being seen by humans, but then Evelyn finally let her eyes scan her surroundings. Yes, the large boat was hugging the Thames bank by a dock, but before her, there lay a lifeless, desolate city. The brick and concrete structures, that were once majestic symbols of London, were for the most part, wrecked. Mounds of destroyed bricks and broken cars polluted the barren streets. When Evelyn moved to the railing of the boat, she could see deep craters in the streets.

Evelyn sighed when she realized that the city had been bombed. As she lifted her eyes to the skies, she could see the flashes amongst the clouds of a vigorous dogfight, perhaps 6 kilometers away. Evelyn felt a soft tug on her jeans. "Miss Bergan," said a house-elf shakily, "you must enter the car now. It's not safe for you to be here. Is there anything more you need from Sporkey?" She shook her head and thanked the house-elf, who seemed taken aback from her response. He blushed as he bowed and disappeared before her very eyes.

Evelyn gave a gasp at his sudden apparation. _I'm going to have to get used to that_, she thought to herself and chuckled as she started to make her way into the small black car. Before entering, she could see that other than the driver, there already sat a man in the passenger seat. She gulped as she carefully avoided a pile of rubble and maneuvered into one of the car's leather back seats. "Good day, Ms. Bergan," came a warm, generous voice. Evelyn studied the man in front of her. Now facing her from the front seat, she could see that he had some tatty, grey coloured robes on and grey-ish white hair with a beard that matched. He had thin-framed glasses on a set of eyes that held an air of humility and kindness. She could not help but feel strangely comfortable in his presence. "I hope St. Francis did not give you too much of a tossle. I've had students in the past come out, rather green." He chuckled, before facing the front.

"Excuse me, Sir. St. Francis?" Evelyn asked as her eyes looked at the bleak scenery around her. She just remembered that she was on her way to Kings Cross Station. _I hope it's in better condition than here_, she thought.

"Oh, I have forgot, my dear. Old age must have caught up with me to forget such niceties. My name is Albus Dumbledore, I'm the Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts. Armando sent me in his stead as he had other priorities," he added in a soft, friendly voice, "The boat you were on is called St. Francis... interesting lad, he was."

"Pleased to meet you, Albus. I'm Evelyn..."

"Ms. Bergan, you must not call me Albus. As a student, you should call me Dumbledore; otherwise, I may just have to give you detention." Evelyn's eyes widened as he chuckled to himself. "Ms. Bergan, the wizarding world has been monitoring your development for many years. It is quite extraordinary for an overseas school to accept one like yourself." Evelyn waited for Dumbledore to continue, but he remained silent, and just the moment she was about to ask for him to elaborate, he said, "Hmm.. King's Cross Station. I remember in my youth seeing its marvelous structure. Pity." He turned to face Evelyn once again, "You must venture forth to platform 9 3/4," finally he added in a low murmur, "..and avoid any wandering eyes."

Evelyn looked into his eyes and nodded, before exiting the car. She kept her head low as she unloaded her baggage from the back of the car and proceeded towards the entrance of the Kings Cross Station. On its brick front, someone had attached a white banner with red writing that read, 'King Cross Station. Closed due to bomb damage." Beside that, someone had graffitied 'Bloody Nazis".

_Is this a mistake? How am I meant to take a train from a station that is not running?_, she thought to herself. She pushed the thought out of her mind when she heard some footsteps behind her. She walked into the murky, out-of-service station, that had a few people walking around the vicinity. There were even some people sleeping underneath the stairs and the few stone columns of the building. Evelyn carried her luggage under her arms and advanced to platform 9, avoiding the shattered pieces of glass on the floor. She stood at platform 9 and could see platform 10, but couldn't see 9 3/4 or any trains. She needed to be in the train by 11:00 am, so that meant she only had a short 15 minutes. While she stood, she could still hear the tapping of footsteps behind her, getting louder and louder as they approached her. Evelyn could feel her heart quicken and some sweat collecting on her forehead. _I need to hide_, she thought to herself. She treaded forward in a nonchalant manner, as to not arouse suspicion. She felt herself slowly raise her pace and just as she neared the closest brick column, she slipped behind it and pressed her back towards it.

To her surprise, the brick face did not catch her; instead, she fell right through the barrier onto her back. The incredibly sharp pain that coursed through her back was unbearable. She clenched her teeth and hands in agony while she laid on the stone floor right in front of a column, the same one she had fallen through. Her bags and owl cage had fallen onto the floor as well. The owl started squawking.

Suddenly, a teenage boy appeared before the column. His footsteps echoing the same sound of the stranger before. He stood above Evelyn, towering over her figure, smirking and looking at her with cold, blue eyes. Their frigidness only amplified by his pale skin and his dark brown hair that was parted to the side. "Thank Merlin, you're a witch. If nobody had told me, I'd have assumed you were a pathetic muggle," he said with bite, "Come on. Get on the train already. I'm not going to eat you." He offered her a hand, which she, quite terrifyingly, took and stood onto her feet. The boy then helped her collect her bags and put her owl cage in its upright position. After, he took his own bag and stalked off to the train.

Evelyn out of gratitude decided to run up beside the boy and enter the train with him. She wanted to know the name of the strange boy, who not only helped her before, but interested her in some strange way. Right when she was about to ask for his name, a goblin stopped the boy and asked, "Name?". He had a parchment with a quill floating beside his body, which amazed Evelyn.

"Tom Riddle," he answered and without hesitation, pushed past the goblin into the train before the quill even striked off his name. The goblin let out of huff of irritation and threw his hands in the air.

Not long after, he asked once again, "Name?" as he now faced Evelyn.

"Evelyn Bergan," she answered politely and waited until she was signaled to enter. When the quill had crossed her name, the goblin looked at the girl in even more irritation than before, at the fact that she was not entering. "Go!" he shrieked at her. Evelyn hurriedly entered the train with her luggage. It didn't take her long to notice the short tempered nature of the goblin species and she didn't appreciate it. She couldn't understand why they couldn't treat people nicer. _They always seem so angry and pissed off_, she thought to herself.

Now that she was on the Hogwarts Express, she felt excited. The train was in prime condition - it was a black and red steam locomotive that had no noticeable bomb damage. It was a beautiful train and seemed to extend forever into its many different compartments. Evelyn smiled and picked up her bags. She lost sight of Tom Riddle, so she decided to just follow the hallways to her right.

She was lost in her blissful thoughts that she bumped into someone's lower back. Mind you, Evelyn was of average height for her age. "Sorry," she said as she took a step back and looked up into the face of half-giant._ Holy moly,_ she thought and stood petrified.


	4. Chapter 4 - Train Tracks to Nowhere

**Ch. 4 - Train Tracks to Nowhere**

"O' I'm sorry there. 'Fraid my bottom's gone amiss. My name's Rubeus Hagrid," he jokingly said, while turning around and looking at Evelyn. He was a young, albeit large-sized, boy with tossled brown hair, warm eyes, and a cheeky smile. Evelyn couldn't help smiling back at him. He had a very strong English accent, which made her have a difficult time understanding his English. "What's you' name?"

"Evelyn Bergan," she replied and reached for his hand, "It's very nice to meet you, Rubeus. I'm sorry about the … surprised look I had before. I'm quite new to the whole wizarding thing."

"I'm sure you' not the only one. I'm rather new meself. A first year's gotta learn something, you know," Rubeus continued, "Anyways, I must be in your way, what with me waiting in line for the loo. Let me just, excuse me.." Before Evelyn knew it, her feet were off the wooden floor of the train. The half-giant had lifted her with both arms around her hips and shifted her to the other side of him, so that she could reach the compartments. Luckily, none of her bags had fallen during the move.

"Blimey!" Rubeus suddenly realized what he had done, "Sorry Evelyn, bad habit. I do it to my wee Dad all the time." He blushed and stood awkwardly. Evelyn giggled and tapped him amicably on the arm. They shared a smile and a nod, before she turned around in order to proceed down the train's hallways to find a compartment.

"See you at the sorting, Rubeus!" She shouted back to him, as she attempted to dodge the large crowds of students collected in the hallways. The train was filled to the brim with hundreds of students, who were either waving goodbye to their parents or settling in for the trip.

Evelyn felt the warmth gather on her cheeks and face, as she squeezed through the crowd, brushing past peoples' bags, chests, and arms. Given that the hallways was only a meager meter and a half wide across, it was difficult to pass through the people on top of that with luggage and an owl cage. For Evelyn, it felt like a battle crossing. As she conquered more ground, she would peer into the windows of the separate compartments in hope of finding a free space. Most of the compartments were already filled due to the fact that she was rather late to board the train. She mentally cursed herself for this.

Once she passed about seven compartments, she found a compartment that currently had only two occupants - two girls who seemed to be the same age as Evelyn. She was about to join them when the train gave an unfortunate jostle, that made her lose her footing. She flew forward and desperately grabbed anything to slow her fall. The ground gave a loud thud, BANG.

"OH MY MERLIN! YOU BITCH!" Her heart dropped as she heard a nearby girl exclaim with a high-pitched voice. Evelyn grudgingly picked herself off of the floor. Her arms and knees were throbbing. She found herself face to face with a beautiful, young girl, wearing a jean skirt and a torn, red graphic shirt. Evelyn softly chuckled, as she realized that she could see the girl's belly button, but then she realized that she held the other half of the shirt in her hand. "WHAT'S YOUR FUCKING PROBLEM!? YOU RUINED MY FAVORITE SHIRT ON THE BLOODY FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!" The girl was aggressively pushing Evelyn by the shoulders. She was furious, as Evelyn was frightened.

By now, the pair had attracted the attention of all that were on the train. Apart from their raised voices, all was hush, as students quieted down to eavesdrop. Students stuck their curious heads out of their compartments to watch the commotion.

"I'm so sorry," Evelyn cried, "I didn't mean to. Here," she gave the enraged girl the red cloth in her hand, "I'm sorry, I could.."

"YOU COULD WHAT, YOU TWAT!? SORRY IS NOT GOING TO CUT IT! I'M GOING TO GET YOU BACK FOR THIS! I'M GOING TO..." She clenched her right fist, as if to punch Evelyn and barred her teeth. Evelyn covered her face in fear with her arms. Her eyes were closed.

Someone piped up, "Rachel, she's said she's sorry. Leave her alone." Another voiced, "The shirt wasn't that nice anyway." The last comment affected Rachel negatively. She chose then to straighten her now-indecent shirt and skirt, give Evelyn a menacing glare, before coldly walking off into a compartment.

Eventually, the students started to bustle around and the light, cheerful atmosphere filled with anticipation and excitement was restored to the train. A student pushed past Evelyn, who was still standing there in the middle of the hallway, much like how Hagrid had done before. She let out a sigh before entering the compartment with the two girls. _Ugh, I really wished I hadn't ruined that Rachel girl's shirt. She got so pissed off_, she thought,_I hope she doesn't hold grudges too badly. Bet she does though. _

Evelyn closed the door behind her when she entered. The small compartment was comfortable and spacious, especially since they were only three in it. It had a very large window that displayed the fields and trees outside. The girls' luggage was stored overhead on metal shelves, along with their owls. The two other girls were talking to themselves about their summers as Evelyn was putting away her things. When she sat down, both of the smiling girls looked at her. "It was quite a row you had before in the hallways," one of the girls said, "But I mean, I wouldn't be too worried if I were you. The girl seemed like a drama queen. I already don't like her." She was a beautiful, green-eyed girl with fiery red hair. A complexion that matched her animated personality. She kept talking, making hand gestures as she spoke.

The second girl, who seemed quiet, said, "She won't stop talking. Her name's Mathilda Plumheart and I'm Anna Mandrake. You are?" This girl had brown eyes and brown hair. After she had spoken, she turned and faced out of the window at the scenery.

"Ha, how silly of me. Anna, you've always been so .. forward. The name's Mathilda Plumheart. A name and face you won't forget," she beamed, "This is so exciting. Wizards, magic, and Hogwarts! I can barely breathe. Girls, we must stay together." She was now standing, trying to make her monologue extra dramatic. "It'll be us three, like the muggle musketeers, you know. Me, Anna, and..." She bit her lip and looked down at Evelyn.

" .. Evelyn. Evelyn Bergan," she said, "It's very nice to meet you two."

"Can I call you Eve, maybe?" asked Mathilda.

"Of course," she smiled.

Mathilda rushed towards Evelyn and hugged the girl, while Anna turned away from the window and gave a small smile at them. The three girls hit it off very quickly. In part due to their stark contrasting personalities, but also partly due to their excitement for Hogwarts. Before Evelyn knew it, she could see the arrival station outside of the compartment window.


	5. Chapter 5 - Red-faced Mathilda

**Ch. 5 - Red-faced Mathilda **

The train stopped at a small, abandoned station, that would not be able to house a fraction of the students that were present in the train. The building was of a sad sight, as it stood under Evelyn's vision as an old, brown, lifeless creature. At its front, it had broken columns, that were in good condition at the bottom, but were abruptly cut in the middle in a jagged manner. The windows were clouded and dirty, and the paint was peeling off of the outer walls. This made the building look hideously tatty.

The building was very isolated from anything else man-made, as it stood in the middle of a looming, undisturbed forest. The tall trees' trunks shot out of the ground in strange uniform and determinedly rose to the placid skies. Their overarching statures were incomparable to those of any other tree. Their leaves were a mystery, as when they'd brush, they would emanate whispers that sound of kin to nearby listeners. It has been said that many wizards who have entered this forest have never come out again.

Evelyn furrowed her eyebrows at the scene in front of her. When the train finally came to a halt in front of the small building, the trio began to gather their luggage and owl cages. It didn't take them long however to notice that they were the only ones who had not changed into their robes yet. "Bloody Merlin," muttered Mathilda under her breath, as she melodramatically sat down and crossed her arms over her chest. A pout on her face.

"Oh come now," said Evelyn, "It'll only take a minute to change. I'm sure we'll make it on time. Just dress quickly." Evelyn set her bag on the soft linen of the compartment seat and rummaged through her suitcase to find her robes. It was quite embarrassing to change in the compartment because all the students were in the process of leaving the train, so when they'd pass, they would look inside the window. Some of the boys wolf-whistled at them. Luckily though, the large window facing out, was draped across.

When they had finished changing, which took longer than expected, they emerged from the compartment with flushed faces. "Let's never do that again, girls." said Mathilda with a grin, as she found the situation funny and on top of that, secretly enjoyed the attention of the boys. Anna gave a small chuckle behind Evelyn. They were the only ones still on the train, so they had thought, so they were even more perplexed when they couldn't find anyone outside. _They couldn't have already left so quickly_, Evelyn thought. Then, Evelyn caught sight of a small flicker of a candle coming from one of the windows of the station.

"This is so annoying. Why would they leave us behind? Everyone knew very well that we were changing. I mean, come on, the whistles and stuff. What a bunch of prats, they are," vented Mathilda, "I can just... I can just.." She then turned around and with much frustration, kicked the side of the red train. She let out a yelp and held her now-aching foot with her hands. She was hopping hopelessly on her other foot, just about to fall over. Anna rushed over to her side and held one of Mathilda's arms to stabilize her.

"Kicking a train is not going to help anything," said Anna sternly, "Let me check your foot." She sat the girl on the gravel pavement, took of her shoes, and examined her foot. Meanwhile, Evelyn was still looking at the small building that stood ahead. The candle fire danced and then suddenly, a shadow passed by the window.

"Mathilda. Anna. I think they might be in the small building over there," she said slowly, "Let's go over there. What's the worst that could happen?" She smiled and came over to help Mathilda with her baggage. She was still in pain. Anna and Evelyn had to walk slowly in order to stay in pace with Mathilda, who was partially limping. She repeatedly winced and muttered 'ow's the whole 20 meters.

Standing in front of the pale white doorframe of the station, the girls took a breath, Mathilda crossed her fingers as Evelyn reached for the doorknob. Suddenly, the door flew open. "OWW!" The door was opened very forcefully and unfortunately, had hit Mathilda across the face as she stood furthest to the right. The other two girls had been lucky enough to move out of the way.

"FUCK!" Mathilda continued. The door had hit her so hard that she fell backwards. The hand that she had brought up to her head shortly after the impact felt moist, and Mathilda noticed the ample amount of blood on her palm. "OH MERLIN!" She wailed. She started to cry. Anna and Evelyn rushed to her side and hugged her. After a minute, they looked up from the victim to the culprit.

They saw a 5th year couple, who were holding each other quite intimately and occasionally snogging right before their eyes. The guy had his robes open and a hand resting on parts beneath the girl's back that Evelyn did not want to think about. She looked at him with a menacing expression, expecting an apology.

"Ugh, my bad." He said ignorantly and ran off with the girl behind the building. She couldn't stop giggling.

Evelyn threw her hands up in the air._ What an inconsiderate bastard_, she thought. "Hey Mathilda. Come on.. you're a strong girl... stop crying now," Evelyn cooed quietly to Mathilda. Evelyn took Mathilda's hand and squeezed it. It was very faint, but she could feel a faint squeeze back. This made her smile.

"Oh blimey!" They heard nearby, and it was none other than Rubeus. He rushed over to them and knelt down. "I heard the cries of a lass and came out as fast as my legs could tak' me. If you move a wee bit, I can carry her inside to the teacher. Poor girl seems to be in shambles." He put his big arms around Mathilda and lifted her up into her arms. "There you go. I'll bring her back in an a-okay state." He said and veered towards the station with the girl. He had to duck his head underneath the doorframe to get in.

"Thank you," Evelyn called and Anna happily nodded beside her. "Let's get inside, I guess." She said to Anna and smiled. The two grabbed their baggage and entered the building and what Evelyn saw shocked her. This building's interior definitely did not match its exterior, she thought.

The depressing appearance of the station turned out marvelous and spacious. The inside of the building was enormous, about the size of a school hall as it turned out. All of the students that were previously on the train were inside with their luggage and enjoying various juices, such as pumpkin juice. The atmosphere was light and cozy, especially due to the interior arrangement and design of the rooms. The rooms had soothing caramel coloured walls with wooden borders, that had various portraits and picture frames here and there. These picture frames had moving subjects, and many 1st years were talking to the portraits. In the middle of the large room, there were table benches, lighted with old-fashioned candles, that the students could sit on and chat.

Unfortunately, for the currently gob-smacked girls, their late exit from the train meant that they could not enjoy much time in the room. They had just gotten themselves some pumpkin juice and seats, when they heard, "Carriages have arrived. Please, in an orderly fashion, create a line so the process of entering them can proceed efficiently."

Knowing the rebellious and mischievous attitudes of kids (primarily teenagers), a line was never created, so students pushed and shoved one another to get through. Evelyn and Anna were lucky enough to get into the same carriage. When they entered the black thestral carriage, they sat on the same side together on blissful, red velvet seats, and closed the door. Anna was quiet as usual, so Evelyn felt the urge to strike up a conversation. "I wonder where Mathilda is," she said and looked out the carriage windows in hopes of seeing her, "I hope she's okay. That bump to her head looked painful."

"Yeah." Anna replied.

"Hmm. It's a very weird horse pulling this carriage. I'm not even sure it's breathing or anything. It's even grey coloured and such. Is it even alive?" Evelyn asked and looked at Anna curiously.

"I don't see it," was the reply.

Evelyn looked down and started wringing her hands a little bit. Unexpectedly, the door was opened and two students entered their carriage. There was a girl with pale skin and jet black, straight hair, who was adequately attractive, and then there was Tom Riddle, both were wearing green emblazoned black robes. They sat on the unoccupied side of the carriage. Once they had settled, the girl started to lightly touch Tom's hand with her fingers.

Evelyn tucked a blonde strand of hair behind her ear, looked at Tom and asked, "Tom Riddle, right?"

"What's it to you, blondie?" the girl retorted with a sneer on her face. Tom smirked.

"Oh nothing," Evelyn replied with her hands held up in defense, "It's just, we met earlier, by accident in fact, and we never really had an introduction. I'm Evelyn." She smiled sweetly at him and they held eye contact for a second.

"Pleasure to meet you, Evelyn." Evelyn could feel butterflies in her stomach.

The girl broke their brief gaze by tugging on Tom's sleeve, such that he turned to face her. She looked back at Evelyn with a sour expression and said dryly, "I'm Olive Hornby, Tom's _girlfriend_." She laid extra emphasis on the girlfriend part. She then draped her legs over his lap and started to nuzzle her nose on his neck. Those butterflies from before were now dead.

Evelyn looked over at Anna, and for the next 20 minutes, they rode in silence in that carriage.

Anna, sensing the awkwardness, chose that moment to say, much to the occupants' surprise, "Anna, if anyone wants to know". An eminent silence ensued. Everyone turned to look at Anna. Evelyn found the situation so bizarre, that she couldn't help but hysterically laugh at the situation. Anna had to hold her friend upright for the rest of the trip. Tom chuckled at her state.

Outside, if any of the carriage occupants had noticed, the castle of Hogwarts grew larger as they approached. It wasn't long before they would be entering Hogwarts themselves.


	6. Chapter 6 - Rude Awakenings

**Ch.6 - Rude Awakenings**

With her mouth agape, Evelyn stood amongst the crowd of first years, in awe at the sight in front of her. The majestic castle of Hogwarts stood in her wake as a vast, yet daunting work of grey brick, iron, and copper, that amazed even its creators. The castle covered large acres of land with unprecedented glory, towering over endless prairies and the large Black Lake to its South.

The castle of Hogwarts was created with numerous spired towers that created a jagged silhouette, quite typical to the architectural styles of the late Middle Ages, but highly unusual to what Evelyn would see in her Norwegian hometown. It's seven-story structure, created and supported by magic, held traditional and dark secrets of the past.

Seeing the bouncing light of the guiding teacher's lantern far ahead, Evelyn quickened her pace and resumed her position with the students. The elder students were very indifferent and sluggish in their movements, but the new students beamed with curiosity and excitement. They crossed a lengthy, stone bridge, which made Anna whimper and stick to Evelyn as she was very scared of heights. Ahead, Evelyn could see a very content Mathilda (with a bandage on her head) talking to a blonde-haired, muscular boy.

As they neared the large wooden doors, that currently was the only barrier between them and the inside of the school, the old, withered teacher turned around and blew out his lantern. This promptly invited the darkness close to the students' bodies as they stood facing the shadowed face of the teacher. Evelyn could feel goose bumps forming on her skin due to the cold atmosphere of the night. "Ahh... how I love the night. It's quite a magnificent night as well. Yes, yes. Very magnificent, indeed," he said, looking to his side and then without expectation, looked sharply towards the students, "I'll be the new Divinations teacher this year. Oh, darnit, I wasn't supposed to say that." He started to crumble into himself and wring his hands nervously. "Stupid, stupid," he muttered to himself while shaking his head pathetically. Suddenly, as if his eyes had glazed over, he straightened his posture and said with a straight face in their direction, "I'm Sir Bernard Prewitt. All the second year students and so forth please proceed into the Great Hall. I expect you know your way, and we don't want any students absent for the Sorting Ceremony. Any found outside will be given 2 weeks detention with no exceptions. As for the new students, please follow me."

Sir Prewitt opened the latch on the wooden door ahead and all of the students followed his footsteps, until the older students separated into their own pathway. The new students were led through various hallways and floors. What amazed Evelyn was the magical moving staircases that seemed to have a will of their own, as they moved quite unpredictably. The floor plan of castle seemed an intricate maze for the students, as every room seemed quite similar, but would still hold a hint of their own uniqueness. Evelyn walked side by side with Anna as their eyes observed their intriguing surroundings, followed by many oooh's and aah's. Evelyn saw a portrait unlike the others beside the top of the staircase on the 4th floor that captivated her. It featured a tall, brunette man with a scar on his right cheek, dressed in robes with ribbons, holding a hand drawn map. It seemed very coincidental that he had green eyes that greatly resembled her father's. Before Evelyn could properly observe the portrait, they had passed around the corner and stood in front of another set of ancient doors.

"Now, students, before the ceremony and other events proceed, let me just go inside and see if they're ready for you to come in," he said with a nod, but stood stationary for a bit. "Oh right, I need to go in .. I need to go in." He strangely rushed to get inside with a light jog and closed the doors.

Evelyn felt small squeezes on both of her shoulders and came face to face with a beaming Mathilda. "Wasn't he just the wonkiest man, you've ever seen? I surely hope I don't have too many hours of Divination this year." They laughed together.

"I hope I don't either," Evelyn replied, "How are you feeling anyway, Mathilda? How's the head?"

"OH, that was the strangest thing. Rubeus was holding me, right, and then he brought me over to the teacher. It was not Sir Prewitt, another one. I don't think I ever asked for his name, strange. But anyway, Rubeus brought me in and I got my plaster. It apparently wasn't anything too serious. Just a whack on the head. But Rubeus stayed the whole time. Isn't that sweet, Eve?" She grinned.

"That is nice, well, he's probably -"

The large door in front of them opened and the light of the Great Hall flooded into the corridor they were standing in. As the new students walked to the elevated floor section in front of the teacher's table (that had the Sorting Hat resting on a stool), the older students, seated on 4 long bench sets divided by houses, cheered at them. Evelyn shrunk within herself as her nerves peaked in that incredibly occupied, massive room. Looking up, candles floated in an organized pattern below the night sky.

Taking a deep breath, Evelyn saw Sir Prewitt take his place at the teacher's table and a white-haired, long-bearded man, clad in embroidered yellow and blue robes with a matching pointed hat, stand up.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It pleases an old man's heart to see youth in excellence at education and other matters I won't discuss here. Isn't that right, Mr. Adley?" He warmly chuckled, as the older students all laughed and looked over at a blonde-haired boy in Gryffindor, who in turn stood on the bench and gave a flamboyant bow. "I'm Armando Dippet, your headmaster, and I'd like to introduce the new students myself, so let the Sorting Ceremony begin." As he spoke, he held his arms open, which came of as a very inviting gesture. "When I read your name, young one, you must come to me, sit on the stool, and the Sorting Hat will be placed on your head. After that, proceed to your house's table."

"Will there be another Slytherin, an ambitious yet cunning serpent looking to join its brethren? Or a daring, brave Gryffindor lion, who will face challenges without hesitation?" The separate houses would roar when they got their descriptions. While each was called, the banners above the table benches would light up in brilliant colours, according to the houses named. "Does the ground rumble for more loyal, patient, hard-working Hufflepuff badgers, who value morality above all else? Or will intelligence and knowledge overcome all in the form of the Ravenclaw students?" Sir Dippet finished. Then, he took out a long parchment of names.

"Abbersworth, William."

A small boy with short black hair and glasses approached the stool shivering. He settled himself on the stool, but before the hat even sat on his head, it shouted, "RAVENCLAW!" Cheers erupted from the Ravenclaw table and the boy bounced off towards his new house.

"Anofricius, Flynn."

Another student proceeded to the stool and it took a little while before it decided the house. The shaggy, blonde boy ended as a Gryffindor, much to his delight as he smiled elatedly afterwards.

"Baker, Rachel."

Evelyn felt a shove on her right shoulder, as Rachel made her way. She was very confident. She shook her hips and played with her hair while she approached the stool, which disgusted Evelyn, especially since it's really only the teacher's that can see it upclose. _What a bad first impression_, she thought. She looked over to Mathilda and rolled her eyes. "HUFFLEPUFF!" announced the hat and Rachel joined the black and yellow house.

"Bergan, Evelyn." Evelyn took a breath and made her way to the center front of the Great Hall. She felt her cheeks heat up. She noticed Sir Dumbledore lean forward in interest as she approached. She set her weight on the stool and Sir Dippet smiled as he lowered the Sorting Hat on her head.

"Ahh, Interesting," she heard in her head, "A Bergan has finally arrived to Hogwarts. A famous name for powerful, brave wizards and witches. I see much Gryffindor in your blood, but ahh, that doesn't seem right. 'Fraid you don't have the wits to be placed in the Ravenclaw house. Ah, you're a resourceful and ambitious girl, makes you perfect for Slytherin. They would welcome you warmly over there; however, they would appreciate your gifts more in Hufflepuff. You'll fit in perfect over there, I see..." He remained silent for about 10 minutes then, and Evelyn sat in complete awkwardness. She looked up to Sir Dippet and tried to whisper to him that the hat stopped working.

Suddenly, it rang, "HUFFLEPUFF!" Evelyn flashed her teeth in a grin as the hat was taken off and she rushed over in excitement to her house. She followed the uproar of the cheers from her house. For a moment, she stopped walking and faced Rachel. They grimaced at each other. Evelyn sat on the opposite side of Rachel, next to a set of twins called Peter and Thomas Kent.

"Cottington, Gilda." - Slytherin

"Darren, Robert." - Gryffindor

She didn't pay much attention to the rest of the sorting because it was rather long and boring. She did however, notice that Rubeus was sorted into Gryffindor with Anna, and Mathilda got sorted into Hufflepuff, much to Evelyn's delight. On top of that, in the middle of the sorting, there was this very funny incidence, where Dippet couldn't pronounce one of the names of the students:

_""Oh dear, this name is far too modern for one like me," Dippet chuckled and continued, "Papalilliopalous-Waltz, Axel Rumm Dante". Evelyn could hear students around her whisper and chuckle about his name, as the young male student took a deep breath, puffed his chest up, and came to the stool. He reeked of pretentiousness and self-confidence. _

_Before he sat on the school, he stood in front of the student body and announced, "You __have__ to call me Dante", as if he held much authority. Many of the students raised their eyebrows at this. After his eyes scanned the crowd for a minute or so, he grinned to himself and sat on the stool. After 2 minutes, "HUFFLEPUFF" rang through the room and he joined the Hufflepuff table. Soon, he would be seated next to Mathilda. Their names were very close together in the list." _

Now, with the Sorting finished, Sir Dippet gave the hat to a female teacher, who put it away. Dippet gave his final speech, "Now, with the Sorting finished, let me introduce you to your professors. Like last year, Galatea Merrythought will be teaching Defense against the Dark Arts, Albus Dumbledore will be teaching Transfigurations, Fortuna Sprout will be teaching Herbology. Our good friend, Horace Slughorn will be the professor of Potions. Filius Flitwick is teaching Charms. Please take good care of our new professors, Bernard Prewitt, Divinations and Bethany Babbling for Ancient Runes." Evelyn noticed that Sir Prewitt was the only teacher not present at the table at this moment; otherwise, all of the other teachers had stood up to present themselves. "Currently, there are no Muggle Studies or History of Magic professors due to the recent crisis of Global Wizarding War."

Evelyn's heart sunk, when she heard the last words that had escaped Dippet's mouth._ She had just left a war, namely World War II in Norway, in hopes of a safe world, where she could walk around without worry. How could it be that this wizarding world was also in crisis._ She put her head in her hands and sulked. _What do I tell my mother,_ she thought. _This can't be happening. This really can't be happening._

"Now, Hogwarts students, enjoy the fea-" Sir Dippet was about to finish, when suddenly all the lights and the candles went out, enveloping the Great Hall in blackness. She heard the screams and felt the panic of the students, that were currently fidgeting in their seats. _What just happened_, she thought. She returned her head into the crook of her arms on the table and whimpered.


	7. Chapter 7 - Away Dreaming

**Ch. 7 - Away Dreaming**

_Dark, menacing hands tugged at her clothes, approaching her frail body. Evelyn stepped back, protectively holding onto a small object to her chest. She felt herself overwhelmed by the multitude of apparitions being conjured by the minute, by the mysterious figure several meters away. Drops of perspiration stole down her face. Pure fright arose. _

_She ran through the eerie forest, between the many trees in her path. She panted as she ran away from the mysterious ghost-like beings following her footsteps. The warm-coloured leaves crunched and snapped beneath her boots. Right when she thought she had escaped, her foot caught on her Hufflepuff robes and she lost her footing, propelling herself into a tree trunk. She let out a cry as the rough bark scratched her face. She hastily flipped herself around and came face-to-face with the conjurer. His black hooded robe covered his face and he began to kneel down to Evelyn's level. He slowly reached out a hand towards the black cloth currently concealing the small object, she held. She whimpered, before fiercely shouting, "Leave me alone!". Then, light. _

Evelyn felt a tap on her back, which brought her back to the present. She jerked awake and swung her arm at the intruder. It was Dante, who had luckily missed the attack, he stood and looked at her, "Are you alright, Evelyn?"

Evelyn looked around to her surroundings and saw the Great Hall illuminated with many, small orbs of light. These orbs were created by the wands of the elder students, and followed the tips of their wands. The teachers' table was empty except for Armando Dippet, who was amusedly watching the student body. At this moment, Evelyn felt fascinated and curious, yet a little anxious. _Who had turned off the lights in the school? And what was that vision before about? _

She felt another poke at her back. She turned and looked at Dante, who was watching her worriedly with his big brown eyes. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. Thanks," she answered and smiled at the boy. Then, her eyes scoured the Slytherin table in search of Tom Riddle, but he was absent.

Suddenly, Sir Dippet announced loudly, "Due to the unanticipated, dire circumstances at hand, please proceed to your respectful houses. New students please, for the time being, follow the other members of your houses. Prefects need make sure that the new students don't go astray." Currently, standing next to Dante, Evelyn walked beside him behind the other Hufflepuffs. The black and yellow colour of their robes were hard to miss, and definitely set them apart from the other houses. The student body split into four groups and separated into their own directions.

"Hey, I saw you on the train before, having that fight with Rachel Baker, you see.. I do admire one that fights for what she believes in," Dante said while making a solid fist. Evelyn could hardly see anything admirable in the way she acted in that fight. She had acted very cowardly, she thought. "You mind me asking where you're from? I can't seem to pinpoint where your accent comes from."

"Oh, I'm from Oslo," she responded. He continued to look at her, as if she hadn't finished what she said. "… Norway. It's not too far from here. I came here by boat yesterday." He stopped in his tracks, and so did she.

"That's brilliant!" He exclaimed, "I'm not from here either. I'm Greek. Well, more from my dad's side of the family; otherwise, my mum's Austrian, making me a tad mixed blooded. I'm actually a pretty important person." He grinned and puffed his chest up once more, "My father's the bloody Baron of the Ionian Islands in the eastern parts of Greece, more specifically the island of Leukados, where my grandfather was a very wealthy landowner, wine-producer, pig-exporter and chopstick merchant. And then, me mum's the Countess of Burgenland. Cool, right?" He beamed at Evelyn as they continued to walk. Right now, as she peered to the right, Evelyn could see many a large picture of a basket of fruit. She heard someone mutter that it was the kitchens. She returned her attention to Dante, who seemed satisfied.

"That's pretty incredible that they met in the first place. An Austrian and a Greek. It must of cost them quite a lot of galleons to travel that far." She said, "How are you so fluent at English? I'm managing with what I learnt in elementary school. I did so very enjoy English classes."

He looked down and lightly blushed, "I think you're very good at it. You shouldn't be too worried. I'm sure I'm the only one who could pinpoint everyone's accents. It's a very hard thing to do! I was born and raised in Gloucester. It's in my blood to speak my land's language." He said this last remark with determination and strength. He let out a huff and turned away when he saw Mathilda approach them.

Evelyn looked over at her friend inquiringly and as they came to a halt with the Hufflepuff group, Mathilda managed to whisper, "He hasn't spoken to me since the Sorting Ceremony. All I did was say that he had a wonky hairstyle." Evelyn lightly pinched her side, in which Mathilda replied with innocent eyes and a shoulder shrug. They were waiting in front of a pile of large, brown barrels, that were stacked in a shadowy stone recess to the right of the kitchens. It looked very tatty and misplaced.

"Now, wait, fellow Hufflepuffs," said a tall, blonde prefect with sharp eyes, "We wouldn't want to ruin the little surprise for the new ones. This here is the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room. Pay attention to all of my actions. Any mistakes will result in the poor chap being drenched in vinegar." He turned towards the barrel and observed them shortly. He started to tap a barrel that was located two from the bottom and in the middle of the second row. "This year, it is this barrel that has been chosen. To enter, you must tap the barrel in the rhythm of 'Helga Hufflepuff'. If you happen to be as so unfortunate to not know the tune, go inside and learn it. True Hufflepuffs know it."

It was very quiet while he started to tap the barrel. Perhaps the new students were struggling to count and memorize the pattern of 'Helga Hufflepuff'. Evelyn had no idea what the tune was. 2 quick taps, 1 slow tap, followed by 4 quick taps.

The barrel opened up into a doorway and the group enter the Hufflepuff Common Room. It was a large, round room with widespread windows across the walls and low ceilings, such that if Rubeus was present he'd have to crouch. The common room was quite a comfortable and welcoming place. Feelings of warmth and summer emanated, as the view from the round windows was of beautiful dandelions and rippling grass, despite the fact that it was near fall.

There were many plants: In the corner of the room, there was a mischievous, tall sunflower, that would sing and dance as he pleased. By the windows, there were shy pansies, who were pretty, but would close up when approached. Lined with burnished copper touchings, the common room was complete with plush, cosy yellow and black patterned sofas and a fireplace, that further invited the Hufflepuff students to relax and discuss everyday happenings.

Evelyn smiled as she walked around, admiring the room that was filled with a blissful atmosphere and ambience. The other new students were just as curious as she; however, the older students rapidly retired to their dormitories. She giggled as she played with some pansies. Then, she sat down on a sofa with Mathilda, who seemed exhausted. Her eyes were slowly closing, as she rested her head on the sofa pillow. "I think someone's ready for bed," Evelyn said and lightly ticked Mathilda's stomach. She grumbled in response and rolled herself over. She started to drool on the pillow.

Mathilda focused on the other students around her. There was Dante, who would look over once in a while in her direction, then Rachel, who was surrounded by some girls, talking loudly and then some more she didn't know yet. She heard stomach rumble and some students complain about dinner. The lights in the Great Hall had gone off before they even had a chance to get a bite. Her stomach felt quite empty at that moment, but it was clear that there was going to be no dinner tonight. The other students had retired to bed already. Mathilda stood up and noticed that there were names over the doorways to the dormitories. She was sharing a room with Rachel, Mathilda, and a Cleotilde Goldwind.

She returned to Mathilda's sleeping figure and dragged her over to their dormitory. She had remembered to turn over the poor, now-wet pillow. Their room was very simple. It had a bathroom that the four students had to share; otherwise, the room had two bunk-beds. Evelyn set Mathilda in the bottom bed of one bunk, before climbing onto the one above. Evelyn happily sighed to herself as she pulled the pale, yellow covers over herself. Her eyelids felt heavy and it wasn't long before she fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8 - First Day of School

**Ch. 8 - First Day of School**

Evelyn jolted awake when she felt her pale face get drenched by chilled water. The sun tenderly shone through the thin, vertical gap between the golden draping, marking the hour of eight. In surprise, Evelyn had sat up so quickly, that she almost tumbled over the side of her top bunk bed, which would've resulted in a rather unpleasant injury. She wrapped her arms around herself due to the coldness of the water and the morning jitters. Her eyes focused on her sleep's intruder - a smirking Rachel Baker. Evelyn closed her eyes and let out a slow exhale. "You know, I could have fallen off of the bed and hurt myself." She said slowly and quite timidly, "A simple pat would have woken me. I even had my alarm on. It would have woken me up in like 20 minutes."

"It's too bad you didn't fall off, loser. I was just trying to fix your face," she replied while avoiding eye contact and biting the side of her lip to feign innocence, "… I even sorted out your wardrobe for you." The girl turned around and smirked, "I hate to tell you this, I've picked up some of the spells my mum uses to fix her wardrobe. Can't wait to see you at breakfast. See you later, _roomie_." With a flick of her brown hair, she gathered her robes and left the dormitory.

A sigh of frustration escaped Evelyn's lips. One mistake and already she has to deal with a bitter enemy. She decided to get out of bed, shower, and change her clothes quickly before she caught a cold. Her other roommates must have left for breakfast already, as she found herself alone in the room. When she had showered, she faced the mirror and looked at her reflection. _A bad wake-up is the only thing that's going to phase you today. Today will only get better_, she thought to herself. She combed and tied her long, blonde hair into a ponytail. When she opened her wardrobe, she froze.

When Rachel said she could alter her wardrobe, she wasn't lying. All of her clothes were now hideously, baby pink. Evelyn detested this colour and also the fact that she would look like such a play doll. Her best solution was to wear her little, black dress, which was now yucky pink. She ran a hand across her forehead and left the dormitory. She would often hold her robes a little more shut over her body.

The Great Hall was filled to the brim with students. The hunger from missing yesterday's dinner made the students come very promptly to their breakfasts. Evelyn caught sight of Mathilda in the furthest end of the table, animatedly talking to the students around her. There was an empty place next to her. Mathilda beamed in response to some student, "… That's what I said! You must know your onions before you place your tongue in someone else's business. Honestly, I think sometimes people talk too bloody much. It only gets them in trouble! Like this one time, I was late to turn in this paper because this one chap started to talk to me outside of the classroom. What a right prick he was!" The students laughed at her bubbliness. She turned around shortly and waved Evelyn over. "I saved you a seat, Eve," she said with a smile whilst scooting over. Mathilda opened her school bag and withdrew a sheet of paper that she handed over to Evelyn. "It's your schedule. I picked yours up when I got mine, since you were late to breakfast. You can thank me later, Eve, while we go to our Defense against the Dark Arts class. In about 5 minutes."

Evelyn amiably smiled at the other students around her and they smiled back, as she sat down on the bench and took her schedule from Mathilda. It took her about a minute to realize that she only had 5 minutes to quench her hunger. In front of her, there was about 8 platters of food - toast, bacon, fried eggs, sausages, etc. Having only eaten scraps and mostly only bread with the disaster of WWII at home, her mind got somewhat frightened from all the food in front of her. It felt like too much. On top of this, she was hit with a pang of sadness, when she thought of the food her mother and Nora would be eating in Oslo. Mathilda looked over to Evelyn with worry, "Are you alright? You're not eating anything."

Evelyn shook her head and temporarily forgot her worries. "You won't believe how I was woken up," she said, "Rachel threw a bucket of water on me while I was sleeping! And, and she made all my clothes pink. Look!" She tugged at her dress before grabbing a piece of toast and chewing it.

Mathilda gasped, "SHE DIDN'T! Wow, that nutter! How dare she! I'll go over there and show her a piece of my mind!" She proceeded to stand up before Evelyn put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her down. She shook her head, facing into the table. "Why not?" Mathilda whined to Evelyn, "Fine." After about a minute, she added, "I actually think the dress looks very good on you. If you don't want it, I wouldn't mind nicking it. It's my favorite colour." Before she knew it, Evelyn only managed to eat a piece of toast before she was dragged to Defense against the Dark Arts by Mathilda. They briefly waved at Anna and Rubeus at the Gryffindor table.

The portraits peered over at the girls as they treaded through the bustling halls of the Hogwarts castle. By this time, all of the students were on their way to their individual classes as they commenced in 10 minutes. The Defense against the Dark Arts class was located on the first floor, so Evelyn had to climb some stairs and catch the moving staircases when they were in the right positions. The floor planning seemed so intricate and complex that Evelyn couldn't imagine how anyone could remember the ways the girls entered the desired classroom, there hung a huge, dragon skeleton from the ceiling, above where the students would be sitting in their desks. The other students bore blue and bronze robes.

A tall, slender woman dressed in impressive, embroidered robes entered the classroom. She announced, "Good morning, wizards. I'm very pleased to introduce myself as your Defense against the Dark Arts professor for your time at Hogwarts. I'm Ms. Galatea Merrythought. I will teach you how to duel with magic, dark magic, including the 3 unforgiveable curses, and how to protect oneself. It is especially in times like the Wizarding War we find ourselves in, that it is vital to know defense. That's what I'm here for."

"Now, if you please, open up your textbooks to page 120and by the end of this 3 hour period, I expect a handwritten essay to be set on my desk." There was a mix of groans and 'yes's ringing in the room. The Ravenclaws eagerly started to work, as most of the Hufflepuffs, with harrow, wrote. Meanwhile, Ms. Merrythought sat herself in the front desk and took out some parchments to read, and the room was silent with the exception of page turnings. The textbook pages were about the dark wizards and creatures throughout history and their significance to the DADA subject.

Since Ms. Merrythought was busy reading, Evelyn and Mathilda exchanged glances at one another and waited for each other to finish their essays. When they had finished, they exited the classroom together with about 20 minutes spare time before their flying lesson on the quidditch pitch. "That was painful," Evelyn said, "I can feel that my hand is just about to fall off, and it's not like my essay was any good. Most of the stuff I hadn't even heard of before."

"Yeah, that twat. I can already tell that I won't enjoy that class. Anyway, let's explore the castle a little bit, we have some time before flying." They walked around the first floor and when Mathilda spotted a door ajar, she said, "Ohhh. I wonder what's in here." She stepped into an empty classroom. "Eve, look what I found. Isn't it pretty?" She held up a small amulet that had an emerald in the center encompassed by gold decorations.

"I can't believe it. You're not going to take it, are you? It could be dirty, or worse, haunted or something." Evelyn said incredulously, "I wonder who it belongs to.."

"Well, it's mine now. It's far too pretty for me not to take it." She smiled. "Don't tell anyone." Then, she proceeded to put it on. It held a strong contrast to her tousled, red hair. "Hey, how come you said before that you hadn't heard of those things before?"

"What things? Oh, you mean, the essay topic, like the dark wizards and creatures?" She didn't know how to explain this, so she sat on a desk and slouched a bit, "I haven't read the textbooks yet, and I've never encountered things like this before. I've only been in Oslo my whole life."

"These things are everywhere in the world! Like the imps that whisper in your ear at night, that makes your dreams into nightmares. Or like, the griffons that have nests in the mountains. Oh, and there's my favorite, there's a fairy that comes to your bed and brings you gifts when you lose your tooth!"

Evelyn looked weirdly at herfriend, "You mean... the tooth fairy?"

"You know him too?" Mathilda seemed surprised. Evelyn let out a laugh, that Mathilda slowly joined in on, despite not knowing the reason. "Anyway, we have to get to the quidditch pitch. We might want to run a bit or else we may be late."

For the lesson, the students stood on the green grass outside of the castle in the middle of a quidditch pitch. Stands stood around them in a circle formation, and it was quite a thrill to be there. The stands, though they were empty, provided an atmosphere as if they were filled, such that the students were starting to feel competitive and ready to fly. When Evelyn and Mathilda had arrived, they were late because they hadn't realized that they had to change into gym clothes. They left the locker room and approached their teacher, Mrs. Gertrude Hooch. She was slender, tall, had short hair, and was definitely the youngest teacher Evelyn had seen there so far. She looked around 50 years old.

Suddenly, Ms. Hooch sharply looked over to Evelyn and Mathildawith the agility of a sportsman. "Evelyn Bergan?" She asked.

"Yes?"

"Dumbledore has requested you to come to his office on the fourth floor, so make haste. As for you," she pointed to Mathilda, "run 5 laps around the pitch for being late." Mathilda groaned.

Evelyn decided against looking like a pink dessert, so she proceeded to Dumbledore's office with her gym clothes still on. In the middle of classes, the halls were barren and rather devoid of life. Sometimes when she would pass a classroom, a roar of laughter would unexpectedly erupt, which would make her giggle. It was fun walking around, until Evelyn realized that she was lost and didn't know the way. How was she supposed to know where his office was when she's never been shown to it before? She started to desperately jog around trying to find something recognizable. Before, on the way to DADA, she had just followed Mathilda's footsteps. It was as if Mathilda knew the castle by heart already.

When she unknowingly passed the Hospital Wing and was briskly moving around the third floor, she stood stationary for a minute and panted. It wasn't long before she heard someone say, "I didn't realize they made you do laps inside the castle. I'm worried that this school is just getting more and more filled with loons." It was Tom Riddle. He walked over to Evelyn's panting figure, "My, my. Are you lost, Evelyn?" He bent down andpouted at her, mockingly.

"It's not funny. I can't find Sir Dumbledore's office, and I've been running around for 20 minutes. They couldn't put up signs or something?" She said, hardly catching her breath, "What are you doing in the halls at this time? Shouldn't you be in class, Tom?"

"I might have drawn-out my 'bathroom break'. Between you and me, I'd rather kill someone than go back to the Charms lecture right in that room over there. Any right git is a better professor than bloody Flitwick." He started to walk straight ahead, and Evelyn tagged along. He remained silent and just looked ahead, quite indifferent to her presence.

"How did you and your girlfriend meet?" She asked in an attempt to converse.

"Olive is not my girlfriend, so I don't know and quite frankly couldn't care less. That pathetic low-life just doesn't know her place." He replied with bite, "Anyway, that's Dumbledore's office." He turned and walked away.

"Thanks!" She called at his retreating figure. He just flicked one of his hands in response.

When Evelyn entered Dumbledore's office she spotted a phoenix beside his desk, that was happily setting on its perch. It was a beautiful sight, and just about the only one as the rest of the room lay in shambles. The rather large office was cluttered and pieces of paper and folder were everywhere - on the desk, on the floors, hanging off of the bookshelves, and so on. It resembled a room that had been hit by a tornado. A tornado that had pulledevery article out of the wise man's shelves. One could not see any sign of floor. Evelyn remained at the doorway, as she wished to not step on the teacher's papers.

The papers were disheveled to no end, but it would appear that someone was trying to find something amongst them.


End file.
